Steps to Acceptance
by element-earth
Summary: Danny Fenton's life had forever altered when he received his ghost powers, a change he managed to come to terms with and accept. However, when another shift occurs in his life, one that no one had seen coming, will he be able to accept this change as well?
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

Danny Fenton moaned softly, slowly awakening from what felt like a long rest. He lay still, basking in the sluggishness of sleep and enjoying it for a few blessed minutes. His closed eyes cracked open half-lidded, but the surrounding brightness forced them to shut quickly, retinas stinging. He wearily groaned, but the noise tapered off to a sound of confusion when he noticed the stiff surface against his back instead of a soft one. He was not in his bed.

His hand reflexively reached out beside him, touching something gritty that reminded him of dirt. The hard surface and the brightness of his surroundings oddly reminded him of being strapped to an examination table in some laboratory. Danny was unsure where this thought had come from, as it slipped his mind as quickly as it had surfaced and he shrugged it off as some lingering dream. He eased his eyes open again, still bothered by the brightness of the area, but he merely blinked a few times to focus his vision. It took a moment to process what he was staring at, and when his mind had become coherent enough, Danny sat up quickly, feeling lightheaded from such a hasty movement.

His eyes darted about, but wherever he looked, _green _assaulted his vision. Objects floated about the infinite-distance, taking the shape of doors, clumps of land, some objects moving beyond a mere hover—specters or ghosts no doubt. The air was still, yet there was a sense of movement that was so unlike wind, it was ethereal and rather eerie as though the atmosphere itself were_ alive_. Danny was unsure if it was day or night, for the Ghost Zone held neither, something that set it quite apart from the human realm.

He averted his gaze and looked upon himself, checking to see if anything was amiss, mildly startled to see a black and white hazmat suit instead of jeans and a T-shirt; he was his alter-ego _Danny Phantom_. "Well, this shouldn't be too surprising; I am in the home of my enemies." Danny shrugged; it never hurt to be prepared, even if it was subconsciously. "Now the real question is how did I get here?"

Now that Danny was _awake_, he could think on the reason that he was within the Ghost Zone, but no immediate memories surfaced. Once he discovered his whereabouts, it was only natural to start thinking through the _why's_ and _how's _of the situation, but he couldn't, he couldn't _remember._ If he were in human form he was sure that his heart would be palpitating against his chest.

"Okay, there's no need to panic, Fenton; there's got to be a perfectly good explanation for all this," the slight waver in Danny's voice betrayed his true emotions on the matter. Memories shouldn't just vanish, there had to be something he could recall; he still knew who _he_ was, so it wasn't like he had forgotten everything. So Danny concentrated, isolating any recent memories, even if it didn't make the connection to how he had come here; he just wished to remember _something_.

A fog swirled throughout his mind, a steady blackness remained, but he was determined and concentrated harder, his efforts rewarded him with an image of a girl his own age. She wore a steady frown on her face and had a crown of ebony hair—some would consider her manner of dress dark and reclusive. This is what Danny had loved most about Sam Manson; she was extraordinary, an _individual_. He smiled, pleased that he could remember his friend, although how he could ever forget her is true a mystery, one he would keep to himself. The smile wilted when he thought on how hard of a punch he'd receive from the gothic girl if she ever found out that he had momentarily forgotten her. Before he could stop himself, Danny quickly formed another figure next to her, a male this time, of dark ethnicity. He wore a cocky grin reminiscent of a ladies-man, but the image he tried to portray was ruined promptly by the high-tech gizmo clutched in his right hand. Tucker Foley never left home without his glasses and his classy red beret, but especially never without his PDA; that would be considered a crime in the world of techno-geeks.

Now that he had the images of his two best friends formed in his mind, the rest of the picture had built upon itself; he recalled a recent memory. The three of them were together within Danny's room, Tucker sitting in his desk chair facing the bed where Sam sat on the edge and Danny himself stood pacing back and forth. Text books were spilled open on his coverlet, papers spread out as Sam read off some questions while Danny and Tucker answered, the trio studying for an upcoming test. Danny halted when he hiccupped a mist of blue, his ghost sense interrupting Sam mid-sentence before his own moans of dismay cut off the abrupt silence. Danny reluctantly asked for his friends to cover for him as he morphed into his ghost-form and flew out the window to face the newest threat.

It wasn't long until he found it. All around Amity Park Danny had spotted signs of havoc from busted windows to dented cars, these clues acting as a trail of bread-crumbs that lead him to the culprits; Johnny 13 and Kitty were currently in a lover's quarrel. The pair was known throughout the Ghost Zone for having a rocky relationship, but it had never gone beyond Johnny hitting on other woman or Kitty spitefully dating another man. Now it seemed as though they were out to _annihilate_ one another. The fight was rather unfair too, as Johnny _and_ his Shadow were teaming up against Kitty, who was struggling to hold her own in this fight. Danny was uncertain what propelled him forward, his heroics, the limited time _he _was with Kitty, or sheer stupidity, but before he knew what he was doing, he jumped into the fray, putting a shield up around Kitty, protecting her from an oncoming ecto-blast.

The girl was grateful for his help, but Johnny was rather angry with him for interfering in their business. Danny tried to argue that their quarrel was tearing up Amity Park, but Johnny's jealously made it impossible for him to listen to reason. Danny was now swayed into the fight and before long he managed to weaken Johnny enough to calm him. The teen had the two ghosts talking to one-another soon after and it seemed as though they managed to settle their differences. When things seemed calm, something decided to break up the moment of respite, and all Danny could recall was astonished faces and a flash of white light, then… _nothing._

Everything became dark again, memories fading away to that familiar blackness from before. Danny opened his eyes, releasing his concentration, frowning in disappointment that he couldn't recall why he was in the Ghost Zone, but at least he remembered _something_. There was a hole in his memories though, set between that strange flash of light to appearing where he was. He was uncertain how long this difference was, whether it was a matter of an hour or even days, it was still a hole that he wished filled. Danny felt uneasy.

"Well, sitting here all day isn't going to get me anywhere." Danny stood and floated into the air, removing himself from the island he awakened on. He took off in a random direction, keeping a leisurely pace and his eyes open. His current location wasn't entirely familiar, but the Ghost Zone had that effect on him, between the constant glow and lack of sunlight, there was no proper sense of direction. If he could locate a few of the lair's he was familiar with, it would be easy to find the Fenton Portal; though he wasn't sure if he wanted to go home quite yet.

It might be more valuable to gather some information before he headed home, especially since he was already within the Ghost Zone; he had an idea of two ghosts he would like to speak with. From what he could remember, things ended on a positive note between Kitty, Johnny, and himself, so he didn't expect a full conflict with them. Kitty would no doubt need the least convincing of the two since he _protected_ her, but anything was possible and he'd still need to keep up his guard.

"And now I just have to find them," Danny spoke, optimism in his tone. Looking around at the unfamiliar, _empty_ area about him Danny felt skeptic at finding _anything_. "Where's the Infa-Map when you _need_ it?" He huffed in annoyance; this could take some time.

After a few silent minutes, he passed by some more hovering islands—much like the one he awakened on—and in the background supernatural doors filled the empty spaces; he was coming to a populated area within the Ghost Zone. His keen eyes glanced around, keeping aware of his environment, especially when a few unfamiliar ghosts flew about, but they seemed to mostly ignore him. That was odd in itself. In Danny's experience, even when ghosts didn't _know_ him, they still _knew_ of him, so it wasn't surprising when ghosts he didn't recognize attacked. Some ghosts glanced his way, while most flew past him as though he didn't exist. It was odd indeed.

When another ghost had floated quickly past him, eyes downcast, Danny had enough. He spun around and pursued the creature, but it seemed to realize he was following and started flying away at a quicker pace. "Wait, I just wanted to ask for directions!" Danny called out, hoping the ghost would humor him and stop, but the specter continued to fly forward, ignoring his plea. "Well, I tried to be nice, but I guess I can't expect much," Danny grumbled to himself, deciding on a different approach. He shot a small ecto-blast at the shapeless blob, hoping to divert the ghost's attention long enough to get close to it. When he did approach it, however, it feigned getting hit and released some kind of screech, the noise affectively bothering Danny, the teen shoving his hands to his ears in a vain attempt to block the sound. The attack stunned Danny long enough for the ghost to escape and gain a considerable distance between them, however Danny gave it chase anyway, an annoyed growl escaping his throat.

It was comical to anyone watching, like seeing a strange game of cat and mouse. The ghost swerved close to doors and underneath stairs and over unsuspecting ghosts, not stopping for a moment, nor looking back at Danny to see if he still pursued it. "Wait! I won't attack…er…anymore!" Danny yelled, trying not to sound irate, but in his annoyance, anger crept into his voice anyway. He tried to gain ground, but instead the distance between them grew even further apart. "Slow down!" He was ignored again.

Fed up with the speed of this specter, Danny splayed his arms before him, releasing a stream of ice from his finger-tips, catching the blob-ghost off guard by freezing its legs. It was effective in stopping the ghost in place, Danny approaching the creature with ease. It whimpered at him like a kicked puppy and Danny softened his features, feeling bad that he trapped it.

"Look, I won't keep you long, I just need directions, do you know how to—" Danny had begun before a blue glowing net enclosed around him, pinning his arms and legs awkwardly, the material clinging around him like a rope. Now that Danny himself was trapped, the blob-ghost grew excited and squirmed in its icy-prison, releasing itself after a few twist and turns, promptly flying way. Danny watched the ghost flee until it became a spec in the distance and he silently seethed. "I seriously have the worst luck."

Skulker appeared from above, swooping down in front of the captive teen, wicked grin on his face.

"Yeah, definitely the worst luck," Danny grumbled to himself, though he was sure Skulker heard him when he noted how the ghost's smile had widened.

"Long time no see, Ghost Child." Skulker's deep baritone was an enigma to Danny, considering that his voice was normally a lighter tenor outside of his suit.

Danny had tried to keep himself aware of his surroundings, but he inadvertently focused his attention on chasing that single ghost; not a wise decision. Now he had to deal with the obsessed hunter and at times, Skulker could be rather tricky to defeat. Though Danny absently mused that perhaps this could be a good thing too, maybe he could get some answers to help his situation. Or maybe just more bruises.

First, he would need to level the playing field though. Concentrating on his core, Danny built up a small amount of energy and let it burst out of his body at once, effectively ripping the glowing net off of him, the teen floating in place, unhindered. The hunter frowned at the teen's creativity; Danny's eyes lit up in determination. He would not allow Skulker to best him so easily.

"I wish that 'not seeing' part was longer. 'Not at all' would be preferable, but that'd be asking too much, I'm sure." Danny quipped back, hoping his sarcasm angered the hunter a little.

"Very clever, Whelp, but your tongue will not save your pelt from adorning the foot of my bed. It has been _months_ since I have hunted for your pelt and this time it _will_ be mine," his tone was dark, the ghost ready to attack. Metal plates shifted off of the hunter's shoulders, revealing rockets, activated and ready. Skulker let loose a few, the teen turning intangible on first instinct, bobbing and weaving between shots, tucking himself through the air with practiced ease.

Once he dodged the last rocket, Danny went on the offensive, creating an orb of ecto-energy in his hands and throwing it at one of the launchers, blowing the weapon apart from Skulker's shoulder. "I would think after all this time you'd get sick of trying to get my pelt—I know I am. Besides I'm sure you… wait, what do you mean by _'it has been months'_?" The second ecto-ball that Danny had begun to form faded away, the confusion clearly shown on his face.

Skulker's remaining launcher dipped back into his shoulder. Instead, the hunter activated the jets on his back and flew at Danny with his fists extended, catching the teen in the face. The strength of the metal fist sent Danny careening backwards into the open air—Danny righted himself, rubbing his stinging cheek, glowering at the ghost.

"It is as I said, Whelp," Skulker spoke, smirking slyly, arms crossed and waiting for a response. Those words didn't tell him much and Danny wanted nothing more than to wipe that grin off the ghost's face. To counter the hunter's previous attack, Danny formed two more ecto-balls, releasing them towards the hunter. While Skulker dodged the attack, Danny raced forward and engaged him with a flurry of punches and kicks, driving the ghost backwards. The teen lashed his left foot out for a final strike to the chest, but his ankle was caught in a firm grip.

"Oh, this can't be good…" Danny whined as he was suddenly whipped around the air like a ragdoll and thrown straight at a floating purple door, his back bashing into the hard wood. Before he could respond, Skulker was upon him, one hand latching onto his hair and the other shoved harshly into his chest to pin him against the wood. Fingers dug painfully into his scalp, clenching the white strands in order to pull his head back, revealing the teen's neck. Skulker removed the hand ground against Danny's chest, flicking out his glowing dagger and placing the ethereal blade lightly against his exposed neck. Danny could only gulp, a little more than worried by the close proximity of this blade.

"Any last words, Ghost Child?"

"How about a question instead?" The digits wrapped in his hair pulled harder, gaining a yelp from Danny, the teen glaring hatefully at his captor. "Can you stop doing that?!" Danny growled, annoyed at the hunter for tearing at his sensitive scalp, the pain lingering. "You _still _didn't answer my question from before; what did you mean by _months_? You annoyed me just last week; how can you say you haven't hunted me in months?"

"That was more than one question, Ghost Child." The blade drew closer to Danny's neck, drawing a pinprick of green ectoplasm from the area. Danny gripped the hunter's arm in order to pull the blade away from his neck, but it did little to alleviate the problem—Skulker's arm wouldn't budge. The teen felt the familiar bite of panic well up inside of him, minus the thumping heartbeat.

For an intense moment, their eyes trained upon one another, until Danny's attention was drawn off to a point behind Skulker. The air there seemed to get colder, solidifying its form into something corporal, something icy; he wasn't sure if Skulker noticed this change like Danny himself had. Before he could process what this had meant, the hand fisted in Danny's hair, slowly froze with a layer of hoarfrost; Danny took advantage of this sudden fortune. In one fluid motion he released his left hand from Skulker's arm and charged an ecto-blast, discharging it at the frozen appendage. The attack shattered the arm straight from Skulker's body, effectively freeing Danny.

Now that Danny was released, he put as much distance between Skulker and himself, facing the enraged hunter. "You will pay for that, Whelp!"

"If you want to match I could totally get rid of the other arm for you; but I got to say the one-arm look really suits you," Danny countered smirking to himself.

In response to Danny's jibe, more guns expanded out from Skulker's body, training on the teen, wiping the smirk from his face. It had gone from silent to chaotic in only a few seconds, Danny having a harder time dodging the multiple attacks. He swerved off to the left, missing one shot, but getting clipped in the shoulder by another, biting back a cry of pain. The teen concentrated and turned himself intangible, missing a cacophony of blasts aimed for his chest, but when he turned tangible, a stray shot struck him in the calf. It went on like this for a few minutes, Danny escaping most of the shots, but getting dinged by a few minor ones, Skulker's attacks unrelenting.

"I missed watching you squirm, Whelp!" With that Skulker outstretched his remaining arm, a smaller device appearing from the wrist and firing. "But I grow tired of this game…" Too busy dodging the other attacks, Danny had never seen this strike coming, the attack hitting him dead-on. Instead of hurting the teen, however, Danny found that his wrists were now tethered together with a glowing green coil, likewise with both of his ankles. The teen tried to pry apart the bindings, but they wouldn't budge, so he reached for his ghostly powers instead only to feel…nothing. He winced at the familiar situation, these tethers canceling out his ghost powers; he was now a sitting duck.

Danny looked up from his bindings, unsettled by how close Skulker was to him now; he noticed that the gun's had retracted back within Skulker's mechanical suit. The hunter's beady eyes were lowered dangerously, Skulker's toothy grin wicked and foreboding; he was acting as though he had finally won. It was a look of pure victory.

The knife was within his hand again, Skulker floating calmly towards Danny, flipping the knife into the desired position—the blade was branded so that it was easy for slashing. Danny tried to edge himself backwards, but the way his limbs were pinned together made it nearly impossible to escape and the feeling of panic returned when Skulker closed in on him. "Goodbye, Ghost Child," the words were whispered as the hunters arm pulled back and then slashed forward, but by this point Danny had slammed his eyes shut. There was a strange crunching sound, an annoyed grunt from his attacker and Danny felt no pain from the slash, which was rather peculiar. In the silence, Danny opened his eyes to see Skulker's knife lodged in a shield of ice surrounding him. He absently wondered how this was possible when his ghostly powers were unreachable for the moment, but he also wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. While Skulker was distracted, his guard lowered causing the bindings from his wrists and ankles to dissipate. Once Danny was free, the ice shield disappeared as well.

Without wasting time, Danny extended his arms before him and trained his eyes on the hunter, simultaneously releasing ice-beams from his eyes and hands, coating the surprised ghost in a thick layer of ice. With his left hand, Danny built up some ecto-energy, letting it coat the surface of his hand, containing the energy therein. Danny rushed forward, flying at Skulker's frozen form, his charged hand punching the ice and releasing the contained energy—both Skulker's suit and the ice shattered on impact.

A mischievous smile crept on the teens face as he spied broken pieces of Skulker's suit and ice shards floating around the air. In the middle of the debris Skulker's tiny form floated in place, the ghost fixing Danny with an enraged glare, "Just you wait, Whelp! The Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter will have your pelt yet!" The teen could barely stifle the laughter escaping him when he was reminded yet again the difference in the ghost's voice once outside the mech. He wasn't very threatening in this form.

"I doubt it," Danny said casually. He watched as Skulker's tiny form floated off, the ghost seething, mumbling angrily to himself. Danny swore he heard something about ice-proof armor for their next _hunt_ and it only encouraged Danny's laughter further.

With the hunter's threatening presence eliminated, Danny could go back to what he was doing prior to their fight—figuring out where he was within the Ghost Zone. He reasoned that chasing around the blob-like ghost and fighting Skulker had positioned him differently, so there was a chance that he was near a familiar lair now. He glanced around, scouting the immediate area and then the distance. To his left Danny spotted Ghostwriter's Library. He could easily reach the Fenton Portal now.

He hesitated moving in that direction when he remembered that he originally sought out either Johnny or Kitty; he still needed to sort out his memories. However, the fight he just had with Skulker left him exhausted and bed sounded more appealing right now. If Danny searched for the two ghosts there was also no guarantee that there wouldn't be another fight involved. The teen found himself flying towards the library, more interested in going home and sleeping.

Before long he was floating towards the opening to the Fenton Portal, the trip quick and discreet; Danny was fortunate enough not to run into any more ghosts along the way. With a final glance back at the Ghost Zone—a precaution to make sure that he wasn't followed—Danny flew through the portal, re-entering the human realm. He landed in his parent's laboratory and found himself to be alone now. An uneasy feeling came over him when he glanced about the lab, noting how unclean it was. Devices were thrown carelessly on the ground, crumpled papers littered amongst them, and coated in sticky green goop. Tables fared no better, frayed wiring, chemical stains, and broken glass beakers covering their surfaces.

Turning intangible, Danny flew through the ceiling of the lab, passing through the living room, and phasing straight into his own room. Flickering tangible he glanced around noticing how clean everything seemed. That was odd—the last time he checked his room was a complete disaster. Too tired to make sense of it, Danny diverted his attention to the window seeing a night sky full of winking stars. A soft smile came to his lips as he sought out the alarm clock on his nightstand, wondering absently what time it was. "One thirty-three, still enough time to get some sleep."

He just needed to shift from Phantom to Fenton and then he would hop into bed and forget about everything for the night; he could sort his memories in the morning. Right now he just didn't care. He reached for his inner humanity, but the familiar warmth was missing and in its place was something bitter-cold. Danny gasped, pulling away, unsure what that unsettling feeling was. He gave it another try, hoping to see the white transformation rings passing over his body. They didn't. He tried a third time, that chilled feeling returning, and he let go, ceasing this sensation. He quivered. "What's wrong with me?" This startled him. Never in his three years of being a half-ghost had he experienced this feeling. "Maybe it was one of Skulker's weapons…" he reasoned logically, but he could still hear the doubt in his own voice.

Danny knew one thing to be true, he couldn't stay home now. It was a bitter thought, because his bed was right next to him and it was a shame that he couldn't lie down on the inviting mattress and sleep. It was simply too risky to stay around his home when he couldn't transform back to human. Right now he was just another ghost and an easier target for his ghost hunting parents. Sure his parents may have not shared Skulker's sentiment about stringing up his carcass for display, but they still wanted to destroy him, rip him apart molecule by molecule. That was just as terrible.

"Where can I go?" It was obvious that he couldn't remain home and returning to the Ghost Zone didn't seem like the best idea either, especially since he had destroyed another one of Skulker's suits. He thought about waking up his friends or sister, but it was the middle of the night and if what Skulker said was actually true, then his sudden appearance might come as more of a shock. "I probably shouldn't stay in Amity Park either." He mused that he would need to leave the city, at least for the night, but he didn't have to go too far. The forest on the outskirts of town would be the perfect place to hide away until morning, hardly anyone entered those woods. Everyone thought they were _haunted_, go figure.

In the morning he would seek out Sam and Tucker and hopefully sort this mess out. For now, he had to get moving or risk one of his parent's inventions picking up his ecto-signature; his situation was bad enough.

Danny phased through the wall of his room, appearing outside in the chill night air, though the cold had no effect on him. These hours of darkness seemed peaceful, a calm wind ruffling his hair while the blackened sky blanketed the area with glistening stars. The surrounding neighborhoods looked secure and as he flew along, more of the city seemed undamaged.

While he flew above the city, he thought on what Skulker had said earlier. Supposedly the ghost hadn't hunted him in months, eluding that Danny had been missing for that period of time, but he had a hard time believing this to be true. Amity Park looked _safe_ and if Danny had really been missing all that time, he would expect to be faced with utter chaos, destruction, and scores of ghosts. Right now, the city was serene and that meant he couldn't have been missing for too long, maybe just a couple of days at most.

During their fight, Danny had tried to coax more information from the hunter—he wasn't sure if it was intentional or not—but Skulker hadn't revealed much more to him. Once the fight really started to heat up he had forgotten about the comment. It was bothering him now though. Even though the city seemed safe, Danny had that nagging feeling that Skulker was still telling the truth. "He might be my enemy, but…Skulker doesn't lie. But then that means that I was really missing for a few months, I mean you think I'd remember something like that? Oh, wait, that's right I'm like the equivalent of an amnesiac…" Danny slapped a hand to his forehead, gripping his hair in frustration, the strands feeling oddly cold.

He let go of his head and outstretched his arms forward, shifting his lower half to a wispy tale, increasing the speed of his flight. The scenery started passing by in blurs as he soared through the sky and towards his destination.

If Danny had been missing for such a period of time, he wondered if there was some sort of response to his disappearance. He wasn't a very popular guy in school and his family wasn't so well-liked because of their profession and obsession with ghosts; he was an outcast because of this. He absently wondered if the students at Casper High worried for him or even cared if he was gone. What about his parents? Did they blame a ghost for stealing their son, or even worse, did they blame Danny Phantom for his possible disappearance? What about his sister and friends? Did they think he abandoned them? If he was truly missing for a few months, then there was no doubt in his mind that he made his loved ones worried sick. The thought almost made him turn around. Almost.

As _Phantom_ he was viewed differently depending on the person; some saw him as a heroic vigilante, others considered him a destructive pest, while at times he was also perceived as just another ghost. Danny's parents would view him as option number three, except they wouldn't run away screaming, they would likely shoot him instead. With his current inability to shift back to human-form, returning home would have been a mistake and it wasn't worth the risk, especially since his fight with Skulker exhausted him greatly. The teen would merely continue on course, flying towards the outskirts of town where no one would bother him. He would rest, regain strength, and in the morning go seek out his friends. The three of them could put their heads together like always and figure things out.

He couldn't help feeling as though things were _different_ this time. Too many strange things have happened this night. He awakened within the Ghost Zone with no memory of how he had gotten there and the only recent memory he could recall ended abruptly and was incomplete. Then during his fight with Skulker, the hunter revealed to him that he was quite possibly missing for a few months, though Danny was still unsure whether to believe this or not. Finally, he _couldn't_ transform back to his human-form and was uncertain whether or not it had something to do with Skulker's weapons or something else entirely. He wondered if this night could get any worse.

He felt mildly startled when a wet droplet splashed onto his nose from above and gingerly glanced up to see clouds now obscuring the stars. Another droplet plopped onto his bangs and another dripped onto his extended hand, the clouds producing a slight drizzle. Danny signed deeply, "I really do have the worse luck." The subtle droplets shifted their intensity, getting heavier and more aggressive as they fell, the feeling reminding him of piercing needles poking into his suit. The rain pelted him mercilessly.

His piercing eyes scanned the darkness, his ghost-form's night vision enabling him to see that he was nearing the edge of town and would be within the forest soon. Once in the woods he wouldn't need to find cover for the night, as the trees would provide enough for him naturally. Veering downward he slowed himself until he hovered near the forest entrance, landing on the grass and entering thereafter. He didn't wander in too far, keeping shallow enough so that he could leave quickly in the morning, but deep enough so that no human would stumble upon his sleeping form.

Danny found a large tree to sleep beneath and it provided enough cover so that he wouldn't get soaked as he rested. He briefly flickered intangible to remove the water saturating his hazmat suit, but he swore that the water in his hair had frozen on contact and stubbornly remained as ice.

The sudden rain had ruined any chance for Danny to stargaze and he felt mildly disappointed by this. He supposed it was a good thing though, because it would take him longer to go to sleep if he was distracted by looking at the stars, though there was enough on his mind to keep him awake anyway. Still he settled himself on the grass, the strands cushioning his body much like a bed would and he placed his arms behind his head using them as a pillow. Danny slowly relaxed, closing his eyes. He was so exhausted it would only be a matter of time before he was sleeping.

Eventually he succumbed to sleep, even if it meant leaving himself vulnerable.

Even though when he awakened he'd have to face this strange situation once more.

* * *

**Authors Note: **I just wanted to address one little thing, but I figured it's okay to place at the end of the first chapter, because this information won't really affect anything here. This story is technically occurring sometime after the episode D-stabilized and Phantom Planet didn't happen and won't be happening, so consider this AU. Very AU!

Please, read, review, and let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2: Seeking

_ Everything surrounding him was of one color—the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the furnishings all pure white. This room emulated cleanliness and Danny felt himself to be a colorful blemish against the stark contrast of his surroundings; it made him feel uncomfortable, as though he didn't belong here. _

_ "Wh-where am I?" he stuttered, his voice hoarse. He placed a hand against his neck, soothing the area best he could, but he wasn't sure why his throat hurt to begin with. The feeling reminded him of when he would use his ghostly wail, the attack was normally debilitating, but it also caused the adverse side-effect of temporary laryngitis. He must have used it recently for his throat to feel like this._

_ The room hadn't alluded to his current whereabouts, though he felt certain that he was here against his will; why else would he awaken on the floor of a room he had never seen before? He sat himself up, hissing when he felt a twinge of pain react to the motion, a steady throbbing in his left side. He gingerly felt along the area, touching rough flesh and sticky moisture—blood. He pulled his hand away gasping at the mixture tainting his finger tips, staining them red and green. Danny quickly tore apart his already ruined shirt and created a makeshift bandage out of it, wrapping the cloth around the wound in order to keep the bleeding at bay. The gash didn't seem too deep and in a few hours it would likely mend, thanks to his quick healing capabilities. _

_ He carefully stood, gritting his teeth when the injury tugged from this movement. He reached out to the white-washed walls to steady trembling legs, guiding himself around the small room until he came to the door. He tested the knob, finding the door locked, "Why does this not surprise me?" Danny merely shifted his body intangible and proceeded to walk through the door, only to slam into the object as though he were still solid. "Great, can't phase through it…" _

_ He placed a hand against the door, the surface cool to the touch and very sturdy, reminding him of metal, only it was painted white to match the rest of the room. He then placed his hand against the wall adjacent to the door, shifting only his hand intangible hoping to phase it through, but the hand remained flush against the wall. Danny backed away in thought, an arm snaking to his wound to check its progress—the shirt acting as a bandage was slick with blood. _

_ "Intangibility doesn't work, but maybe something else will? It's worth a shot," Danny shrugged to himself, raising both arms above his head, "Going ghost!" In an instant white transformation rings split from the middle of his torso and moved in opposing directions across his body, changing his appearance as they traveled. In the place of his typical clothing, a black and white hazmat suit revealed itself. Oceanic-blue eyes shifted to emerald green, taking on an otherworldly glow as black disheveled hair became stark white and a subtle glow covered his entire body. He changed from ordinary Danny Fenton to confident Danny Phantom in a blink of an eye. _

_ He stood before the door forming a ball of ecto-energy, letting it grow until it was the size of a basketball, releasing the energy point-blank at the metal. When the temporary smoke cleared, the door stood firm, not a dent, nor scratch, not even a scuff mark present on its surface. He created another energy ball, hurling it angrily at an adjacent wall, witnessing the same results, the surface undamaged. He circled the room, assaulting the walls and lone door with everything in his arsenal—minus his ghostly wail. He hovered in place, an annoyed look on his features as he surveyed the damage he did wrought, a frozen table and a broken chair. "Great…the room itself is ghost-proof; now what am I gonna do?"_

_ He shifted back to his human-form, the transformation rings passing over his body to reveal his human-side once again, his wound still bleeding. Once his shifting was complete, Danny's legs became unsteady and buckled, bringing him down to his knees. "I must have used too much p-power…" In the silence he concentrated on breathing, keeping calm as he collected himself; he still managed to hear the heavy click behind him. He spun his head, a piercing light blinding him immediately from the now open door. Danny thrust his hands in front of his face, shielding his eyes from the radiance…_

* * *

Danny awoke with a start, opening his eyes to a full burst of sunlight. He groaned from the pain, rolling to his side to reduce the brightness, blinking the black spots from his vision. He sat up once his eye sight returned to normal, feeling blades of grass sink uncomfortably into the underside of his thighs and calves, hands gripping the strands as if they were a coverlet. The dream he awoke from wasn't anything too terrible, nothing akin to a true nightmare, but it still left a bad taste in his mouth. It also seemed oddly familiar, like he was a having a moment of déjà vu.

He fell back onto the grass, arms and legs sprawled out, a heavy yawn escaping him. In this position he could clearly see the sky and how blue it was, clear of the clouds and heavy rain that made up the morning hours. The sun shined from high above, positioned about a quarter of the way across the sky and a noise of annoyance escaped his throat when he realized the time by the sun's placement.

"Oh sure, the only time I manage to sleep-in is when I actually want to get up early," Danny commented in a huff, clearly annoyed at how this complicated things. It was a bit of stretch, but he had hoped to rest a few hours, wake up around seven, and return to Amity Park to start his search. He planned on using his powers to keep himself hidden from sight, and just in case something went amiss at least there wouldn't have been too many witnesses. Now that it was close to noon Danny knew there would be more people on the streets and more chances to mess up. "Well, I better get moving or I'll never find Sam and Tuck."

He reluctantly stood, brushing the grass stains from his hazmat suit, pausing in this action when he realized this meant that he was still _Phantom_. Danny had hoped that sometime during his sleep he would have unconsciously shifted back to human, but obviously this hope was misplaced. He was unwilling to try transforming again after what he had experienced a few hours ago; the cold sensation inside of him just felt…_wrong._ He would try later within the day, much later.

Now he had to focus on finding his friends and he needed his powers to do that. Danny decided to start his search at Casper High—though he wasn't really sure if it was a school day or not—it seemed like the most logical place to look. He floated lazily into the air and soared above the trees, cloaking himself with invisibility as he rose higher, taking off at a steady pace. He still planned on remaining discreet while entering the city; there was a chance that Skulker was telling the truth about his disappearance. Danny wasn't stupid, he knew that if Phantom had been missing for a substantial amount of time, then his sudden appearance would garner unwanted attention from the general populous. He didn't want to deal with that right now.

He had enough to figure out.

He left behind the quiet serenity of the forest and immersed himself in the sounds of the city. He watched from above as cars sped along to their destinations and he could occasionally hear screeching breaks or horns honking. Construction workers were out in this beautiful weather using jack-hammers to bust up pavement while further down the same road men were re-tarring. He lowered himself near a pair of chatting friends, one of them pushing a baby stroller, the infant crying loudly for attention. The neighborhoods were bustling with activity just like Danny thought they would be; it was as though the people were gravitating to the nice weather.

He watched as the pair of friends stopped before a crosswalk, waiting patiently for the signal to change. The crying baby continued to wail, bothering Danny's sensitive ears; he felt as though he couldn't think straight.

"That baby is giving me a headache…" He didn't realize that he had spoken aloud until both women were staring at him, fear in their eyes. Apparently the child's crying had also disrupted his own concentration, turning him visible once more.

The two women looked at one another in some sort of silent exchange then stared back at him. A moment later they were sprinting down the sidewalk, baby in hand, the child still crying as their screams filled the silent calm. Danny shifted himself invisible, soaring towards the sky and far away from the commotion he had caused.

"That was close; someone else could have seen me," he mumbled to himself in annoyance, cringing from the shrill sound of their voices, "Come to think of it, their crying is giving me a headache too."

After the minor incident, Danny kept quiet, flying along in silence, too absorbed with getting to the school as quickly as possible. He still had so many questions that needed to be answered, but there was some sort of desperation crawling inside of him, a yearning to see his two best friends. It was like he hadn't seen them in a while.

A smile curved on his lips when he spotted Casper High along the horizon-line, lowering himself through the air until he came directly upon the school. "Wow, I never thought I'd actually be happy to be in school," with a shrug, he phased through the doors of the entrance and glanced around. The hallways were currently crowded with students as they went about sifting through lockers, walking and chatting with friends, or hurriedly running to their classes. He hovered upward, floating above the mass of students and looking around for any teens that sported raven colored locks or a red beret and glasses. Once the first bell rang the amount of students within the hallway thinned out, leaving behind a few stragglers. Danny hadn't seen Sam or Tucker amongst the crowd.

"Maybe they're both home sick today?" he whispered worriedly to himself, but resolved to stay within the school and do a thorough search before he would check their homes. He floated along, phasing into classrooms as teachers taught their lessons, walking unseen between desks and occasionally causing a student to tremble, unknowingly from his presence.

Once he had come to the end of the hallway he had a choice of either going left or right to continue searching the classrooms in the adjacent hall. Situated on the wall before him was a cork bulletin board; these were located in a few places among the school. Danny halted his search a moment, interested in what he could find on the board.

A colorful flyer grabbed his attention first, an announcement for a school dance; the date and time of this function was missing from the flyer as some of the paper was torn. Once his current predicament was resolved Danny thought about asking Sam to be his _date _for this dance—they would go as friends of course. He blushed heavily at the thought.

To the far left of the board, there were two pictures of students posted, their names beneath the portraits. He never heard of them nor had he seen their faces around the school, but they were apparently the students of the month, given such an honorary place among the school's hallways; he swore he could see a mustache penciled on one of the students faces. Danny remembered when Jazz attended Casper High, the numerous times that she had her picture posted on these boards. It must have been an honor, something Danny couldn't really relate to; he never had been _honored_ for anything school related.

Another flyer caught his attention though he was surprised he didn't notice this paper at first glance. The stark-white sheet was positioned in the center of the board, as if placing it there would grab the reader's attention. It reminded Danny of one of those milk cartons with the image of a missing child printed on it. Written in bold, black ink was the word _'missing' _and beneath that was the detailed description of the individual, when they were last seen. Though the picture was black and white it didn't obscure the image.

Danny was staring at a picture of himself.

His hand instinctively reached out for the flyer, tearing it from the board so that he could read through the information. He sought out the date that he was said to be missing, finding it quickly. "Here it is… Date missing: October 15th, 2007." Without knowing the current date, this information was useless, though this hadn't deterred his worry. Before he could really soak in the information a gentle hand gripped his shoulder, startling him.

"Do you have a hall pass?" spoke a light tenor, male voice. Danny kept his back to this person—obviously some kind of student hall monitor—vaguely wondering how this teen could see him. He realized that he must have accidentally dropped his invisibility.

"Uh, no," he hesitantly mumbled hoping that the echo in his voice was masked by such a low pitch.

"Oh, then you'll have to come with me to the office. You'll have to be written up for having no hall pass; sorry, rules are rules," the voice sounded too smug, as though this person enjoyed giving other teenagers grievance. Clearly he wasn't just some hall monitor, he was a hall monitor on a power-trip.

"Wow, don't you think that's a bit… harsh?" Danny complained, voicing his opinion a little louder; somehow the student hadn't picked up on the echo in his voice anyway. Either this kid was oblivious or he just didn't care.

Danny risked turning around, humoring the hall monitor as the teen started to escort him to the office; he would slip off somewhere safe once he had an opening. What he didn't count on was seeing a young teenage girl walking through the hall at the very same moment they were. In an instant a sharp screech escaped her throat and she pointed directly at him with widened, fearful eyes, screaming out the two words he hoped she wouldn't. "Danny Phantom?!"

The girl ran off and the hall monitor next to him stared. Just when Danny thought the kid was incapable of movement, the teen let out his own blood-curdling, manly scream and ran for the hills. Now that he was seen by a few students, he knew the news of his reappearance would spread throughout the school and things would only get worse.

The flyer was still clasped in his right hand and he barely gave it another look before he folded it up and stashed it in the collar of his suit. Time wasn't on his side and he needed to hurry before the news of his return spread to people that would likely hunt him. He sped down the right hallway, forgoing his invisibility now that it didn't matter so much. "Maybe I should ju—agh!" He screamed, a ruthless pain shooting across his back, throwing him through the air until he collided with a bunch of lockers.

He sat up rubbing his aching back as a shadow cascaded over him and he looked up to see the profile of his attacker—Valerie Gray, the Red Huntress stood before him. The smug smirk on her face faltered a bit, but then returned with a vengeance, the ecto-gun in her hands lifting up so that it pointed at his chest. "I didn't think you'd be the one causing trouble, Phantom. Then again, I didn't think you would return either; my mistake." With that, Valerie shot her weapon, but Danny managed to turn intangible in time, the blast hitting and denting the lockers behind him.

"Word travels fast," he became tangible once more, floating away from the destroyed lockers. "But you got it all wrong; I'm not causing anyone trouble," he gave Valerie his most sincere face.

"Right, 'cause when I see a pair of girls running and screaming about a ghost it obviously means that there is no trouble. What do you take me for?"her tone was flat as she stared at him.

"Well for the record, one of them was a guy," he replied, crossing his arms with a smirk. A look of disbelief came about Valerie's features and Danny used that moment of weakness to slip away.

"That was a guy?" he could hear the disbelief in the huntress's comment, though soon he heard a growl of rage and the rev of an engine as she pursued him. He didn't like the fact that Valerie was behind him and it wasn't long before he had begun dodging pink rays from her gun, a stray ghost-ray slamming into his back again. He was thrown into the ground from the momentum of the hit, slow to get up this time. "Just give it up, ghost, it's easier that way."

"Easier for who, you?" he scoffed at her comment, standing back up only to be knocked down again by another ruthless blast from Valerie. He wondered why she was being so forward; did she miss fighting him like Skulker did? He tried standing once more, a serious expression clouding over his features. "Val, I'm not here to fight you and I'm not here to cause trouble…" he started.

"Don't call me Val, Phantom! And even if you weren't here to cause trouble, haven't you done enough damage already?" she questioned hurriedly looking sidelong at a clock in the hallway. Danny gazed up at it too, noting that there was about three minutes until it was two o'clock in the afternoon; school would be over then.

"What are you talking about?" he wasn't sure what she meant by her words.

"Don't play dumb with me; you know exactly what you've done…" Valerie angrily released a cord from her wrist, the item catching onto Danny's ankle. A startling amount of pain entered his body, jerking it around much like a puppet, sparks riding over his frame as the device sent an electrical current throughout him. The pain was short yet intense, his body collapsing into a heap on the ground; he felt drained. Once more Valerie's silhouette cascaded over him, a lot more threatening now that he had little strength to defend himself with. "Not so tough now, are you?"

A loud ringing occurred in the background of their surroundings, prompting the end of the school day. Valerie looked a little worried once it had gone off, but quickly composed herself, instead removing a shining object from her belt. She had her own twisted version of a Fenton Thermos in her hands and Danny gulped when he realized that look she harbored moments ago; she wanted to hurry and finish things up.

He really didn't want to return to the Ghost Zone; he had no doubt that Skulker was waiting for him there with payback.

He was surprised to hear students walking about the adjacent hallways, calmly as though there was nothing amiss; apparently not everyone had heard of his presence. That would soon change as he could see students begin to walk within the hallway that Valerie and he occupied. A few of the teenagers merely walked back out, silent in their retreat, while others were as loud as the previous students, fleeing and yelling in fear.

Valerie had begun uncapping the thermos and turned it his way, the look of victory on her face until the device was knocked from her hands. Before the thermos had hit the ground Danny released a condensed amount of ecto-energy at it, knocking the device far down the hallway, Valerie hastily running off to retrieve it. To the right of the thermos a familiar boot laid, the sight of it filling him with an emotion he couldn't quite place. He looked up, meeting amethyst eyes towards the end of the hallway and wasted no time in snatching the boot from the floor and running off towards the figure standing there. He grabbed for Sam's hand, shifting them both invisible, allowing them to discreetly flee the scene.

Escaping from the school was an easier affair. They had run straight through the hallway until coming upon a wall where Danny's powers enabled them to pass harmlessly through the solid structure. Once outside, he searched around for a place they could lay low and talk, finding the bleachers by the football field relatively empty. He phased them through the bleachers so that they were standing in an alcove beneath them, away from the prying eyes.

He watched as Sam knelt to the ground pulling on her boot and lacing it up. When she stood back up a heavy silence remained between them and he could tell she was studying his features in the limited light. He studied hers in turn, noting the steady frown occupying her face, her eyes a myriad of emotions—worry, concern, contentment filled them. The quiet grew awkward as it lingered, so he smiled and said lightly, "Thanks for the save back there, Sam."

"That's what friends are for, Danny," she replied her voice cracking, so unlike her. He was used to a hardened edge in her voice, a firm resolution in her words yet neither of those existed in her tone, "I just can't believe your standing in front of me; I feel like I'm dreaming…"

"Well, you're not dreaming; I'm here, though I don't really know how long I've been away. Care to fill me in?" he asked with a smile, only to see Sam's frown deepen. She seemed to be contemplating something, but that faded away as she stepped close to him, wrapping her arms around him in a strong hug. For a moment he was startled, arms uselessly pinned to his side, but then he came to his senses and phased them loose so he could return her hug. Their embrace lasted for a little while, Danny unwilling to break away; his gut was telling him that Sam needed to be the one to do this. When the minutes ticked by she eventually let go, though she looked sad in doing so.

Sam gave him a rare smile, "I'm glad it's really you." Though her smile faded quickly enough, her face tensing to a more serious look, her eyes hardening; Sam looked a little more like herself now. "And _don't_ tell Tucker about this or I swear we'll never hear the end of it."

"Believe me, he's the last person I'd ever tell; by the way, where is Tucker?" it was bothering Danny that his other best friend wasn't here with them, even if he would have tried blackmailing them for merely hugging one another.

"He had to head home right away; something about seeing his parents off. They're going away for the rest of the week to visit Tucker's Aunt, so he's staying home to watch the house," she explained, crossing her arms and leaning back against the wall of the bleachers.

"Do you think his parents left yet by now?"

Sam looked perplexed, but it was replaced by understanding as she caught on to him. "I'm sure they have; we could head there now. I'll give Tucker a call on the way," she said. Once Danny heard Sam mention using a phone, it triggered his memory about the flyer tucked away in his suit. He stuck his hand in the collar and rifled around for the item in question. "Um, what are you doing?"

"You reminded me of this thing," he said pulling free the flyer, unfolding the paper before he thrust it towards Sam. She squinted at the paper and it dawned on him that she couldn't see the content so well in the limited lighting. He produced a glow of ecto-energy in his hand and held it up like a lamp, watching as she scanned through the information, and then leveled her eyes to his.

"Yeah, they've been posted around the school for months now, though I could never get myself to look at them. Pictures are nothing like the real thing," she spoke, that sadness creeping into her voice again. He grabbed the flyer from her hands, feeling guilty that he was the source of her pain. "Danny, it's been hard not having you around. The last time Tucker and I even saw you was when the three of us were studying for Mr. Lancer's English test. Your ghost sense went off and you flew out the window—you never came back."

He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel when Sam told him this. With this information, he now knew that the last memory he could recall was the same day he had abruptly disappeared. "Sam, how _long_ have I been missing?"

"…About six months." a stern countenance replaced her sorrow. Hearing this from Sam gave the words a ring of finality, though the information hadn't hurt any less. He had no memory of the past six months; he couldn't get that time back.

"Sam I…" before Danny could finish, a whirring sound caught his attention, the bleachers around them shaking violently. On instinct he grabbed Sam's hand in his own and phased them through the bleachers before the heavy metal collapsed in the space they had just been standing. He had dragged them past an open field behind the bleachers and towards a tree thick enough to keep both of them hidden behind it. "That was close…"

Sam remained silent glaring darkly at something in the sky. Danny followed her line of sight, watching the Huntress as she circled around the crumbled bleachers, her radar device obstinately beeping.

"Come out, come out wherever you are, Phantom. You can't hide from me…" Valerie's voice still boomed with confidence like before, but there was an undertone of anger there as well. She didn't like losing, especially against him.

Danny kept a watchful eye on Valerie's movements, but he felt Sam's gaze on him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing… it's just you look a little different." Danny turned his gaze onto Sam, the comment confusing him. Of all the things she could have been saying to him, why speak of this?

"Maybe I grew taller or something," he commented casually, flicking his eyes over towards Valerie. The Huntress was sitting on her floating board, typing commands into her wrist computer and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What is she up to?" he whispered mostly to himself.

"Unless you're going through some weirdo ghost puberty, I highly doubt it," she commented sarcastically. "Besides, it's nothing to do with that. It's more…your face." When he looked back to Sam she seemed serious.

"Valerie's up to something and all you want to talk about are my looks? You've been hanging out with Tucker way too much," he stated playfully.

"Kind of had to," she replied.

"Aha! Found you!" Danny must have lost sight of Valerie when he was regarding Sam, because now the Huntress was behind them, a gun readied in her hands. "And what's this; another hostage? You weren't satisfied with the first one, were you?"

"Hostage; what are you talking about?!" Danny was getting agitated with Valerie and he hoped she could see how infuriated he was becoming. Throughout their last skirmish she kept insulting him and insinuating that he had done something horribly wrong; all he had wanted to do was find his friends and leave the school.

He couldn't remember six months of his life; how was that his fault? How was he supposed to know that he would find a missing flyer with his face on it? Anyone would lower their guard when greeted with such news and he couldn't help but be seen by that harassing hall monitor. He couldn't help it if the teen didn't know the difference between the living and a ghost. The _trouble_ he caused was nothing but a series of unfortunate events, one after another.

What exactly was Valerie claiming that he did?

"There you go again, playing dumb. I'm sick of your games, ghost; it's time to end this!" with that, Valerie shot at him with reckless abandon, pink energy rays heading straight for him _and _Sam.

"What are you doing?!" he yelled at her as he produced a shield to cover Sam and himself, the attacks bouncing harmlessly off the dome. "We better go before she mistakes you for a ghost," he whispered quickly to Sam, grabbing her so that she was cradled in his arms. Before she could protest the position, he shot off into the air, shifting them both invisible once more. He could hear Valerie's angry wail behind him and she no doubt pursued them, but with him invisible she's would have a harder time finding them.

"Danny, she's tracking your ecto-signature, but she can't do that if you're human, right?" he understood where Sam was coming from, but it was risky to even attempt a transformation. Even if he could transform, his sudden appearance as Fenton would cause them problems too.

"There's something I forgot to tell you, Sam; I can't transform back," he explained while glancing behind himself to see if Valerie was pursuing them; she was a considerable distance behind them, typing commands into her wrist scanner.

"Never a dull moment with you around is there, Danny?" he could feel her sigh against him, but knew that the remark was meant to be playful rather than spiteful.

"No, Sam, never a dull moment," he replied, chuckling. He looking back to see that Valerie hadn't gained any ground on them. "We've got to ditch Val, but how?" Danny mulled over his options, thinking of using some sort of distraction so they could flee to Tucker's house unnoticed. The fault in this would be if Valerie eventually showed up at his friend's house due to tracking his signature there. Tucker would be in trouble for harboring a ghost. "Wait, if I destroy her wrist scanner, then she won't be able to find me."

"Or any other ghosts; I don't know if that's wise," Sam retorted. She was good for handing advice out, even in the middle of danger, but sometimes Danny wished Sam could keep some comments to herself. He wouldn't have thought of it like that, but he also didn't want Valerie to continue hunting him down, especially when he wasn't sure when he would be able to transform back to human.

"Wise or not, it's the only thing I can think of. We need to find a hiding place where I can drop you off. You can call Tucker and give him a heads up and while you're doing that, I'll take care of Valerie." It wasn't the best plan, but it was something, and to him it counted.

"Right 'cause fighting her yourself worked out so well last time," Sam sounded bitter. He realized that she probably wanted to help him, just as she always did. Maybe she didn't want to let go of him?

"Well do you have a plan?" he was getting annoyed himself.

"Actually, yes; I've got a different idea in mind," Sam said slyly and it brought Danny's hopes up. Usually when Sam had that ring of mirth hinted in her voice, her plans were pretty sound.

"Alright, I'm all ears, Sam."

"Fly us to Tucker's place," she said smugly.

"Wait, that's it? That's a terrible plan!"

"Just trust me, or did you forget that Tucker can hack into anything with that PDA of his?" it was then that Danny had caught on to what Sam had meant and he could only chuckle. She was sly indeed.

"Now that's something I remember," he stated as he had turned towards the direction of Tucker's home.

* * *

Authors Note:  Thank you to those who have reviewed and followed this story; I'm glad you're interested in it! I apologize for the long wait, its just going to take a while to write this. I have such terrible ocd when writing these chapters! I was so proud of the dialogue in this chapter, just like the fight scene in the first one, and I hope nothing sounds too out of character, please let me know if it seems like it does. Any questions or comments please feel free to either write them in a review or PM me, I'll gladly answer what I can without giving away anything too important. Thanks for reading!


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